


I Won't Leave You (I'll Take You Home Instead)

by InterPlanetaryGirl



Series: Height Difference, Sweet Kisses and Just Desserts [4]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Cute, Cute Kids, Definitely Angst in there, Established Relationship, Fluff, Lil Babies, M/M, Minor Character Death, OC's - Freeform, Teacher!Tadashi, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Tsukishima Kei Likes Dinosaurs, Tsukishima Kei is a Dork, Tsukki loves dinos, children crying, fluff fluff fluff, little bit sad, mostly - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-09 01:54:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5521076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InterPlanetaryGirl/pseuds/InterPlanetaryGirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was then a ten minute train ride to several streets away from the school and he made it there by 6:15, fifteen minutes before class and honestly one of his personal bests – he won’t deny (since they lived further away before this move). The teachers all greeted him when he walked into the teacher's lounge; a couple he didn’t see at the end of last year congratulating him – he was finishing his teacher training last year, this being where it was held, and then he was offered the job for real. He was proud of himself and honestly looking so forward to this school year. It was the first time since his second year of high school, after he had achieved some things in volleyball and had a good day of friends and people around him.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Yama is now an elementary school teacher who helps with volleyball clubs and also stays after school with another child, Nakano Masaru, because his mother can never be in time, but he doesn't mind and got the nickname "Tada-nii" but now he makes a split second decision which he doesn't know Kei will agree with when Masaru's mother has been in a serious car accident.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Won't Leave You (I'll Take You Home Instead)

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy it because it's the second to last part in it and I really really like this one although warning that it could be kinda sad???? Sort of??? But not horribly??? That makes no sense but whatever, just please read and enjoy.

Tadashi had never considered how tired he would be the next day for work when he insisted on organising some of the kitchen after two days of basically non-stop moving so that they could get their new apartment into some kind of good shape. They could work on it more throughout the week, but they were determined to have their bedroom and the living room complete before the end of the week. But _no_ Tadashi just _had to complete_ the kitchen as much as possible, late into the night while trying to be as close to silent as possible. And now, after only three and a half hours of sleep, Tadashi had to get up for work. He could push the limits a little, arrive five minutes late – most children were coming in later today so that the new, really young, students could get better used to it without the elders around, so why would it matter? But, no, he really couldn’t get into that habit. 

He left Kei sleeping from where he was laid beside him, he didn’t have to be up for another hour at least and at least he had the sense to go to bed at a reasonable time , and Tadashi really couldn’t punish him for that, no matter how much he wanted to. Instead he sighed, pushed his side of the covers off while trying to maintain as much of the heat as possible so Kei didn’t get cold and become restless, and went to get a quick shower. Usually he preferred to shower on a night, but he didn’t have the time last night with how tired he ended up being. 

The water was cooler than usual, too, to aid with waking him up in the process, but he was out within fifteen minutes or so and got dressed quickly into a green shirt, black pants and a black cardigan that had white piping, before starting the kettle so that he could make a cup of coffee – the perfect thing needed to start his day. While he did that he retrieved the hair dryer and made quick work of blow drying his hair while waiting for the kettle to be heated and click off; he made sure to do it in the living room, meaning less chance to wake Kei in the process. 

His hair was mostly dry after an extra minute, and put his shoes on before filling the biggest mug he owns to the brim and take several gulps until half of it was gone. He grabbed a breakfast, made previously for situations like this, from the fridge and heated it up quickly before eating. Once he was finished he finished his coffee and then went to brush his teeth. It was just turning 5:35 when he looked at the clock on the wall, and so grabbed his bag with all of his lesson plans for the week and laptop before getting a warmer jacket and leaving the apartment, locking the door behind him. 

Luckily for him the bus was running early today, for some reason, so he didn’t have to wait for as long before he got onto the temporary-warming-zone and made his way to the train station from the bus stop, conveniently right around the corner. It was then a ten minute train ride to several streets away from the school and he made it there by 6:15, fifteen minutes before class and honestly one of his personal bests – he won’t deny (since they lived further away before this move). The teachers all greeted him when he walked into the teacher's lounge; a couple he didn’t see at the end of last year congratulating him – he was finishing his teacher training last year, this being where it was held, and then he was offered the job for real. He was proud of himself and honestly looking so forward to this school year. It was the first time since his second year of _high school_ , after he had achieved some things in volleyball and had a good day of friends and people around him. 

He first has to teach his class Japanese Language, something he really enjoys, and he’s looking forward to it if going by last year’s behaviour. They’re usually well behaved, and they’re all intelligent enough to understand the work, but they also got distracted easily, although it’s understandable since they’re only nine and ten years old. 

He waited for them to come in and sighed when the door opened, he thought he was prepared for this to begin with but now he isn’t too sure. He taught them last year, with the supervision of their last teacher, but would they still like him? Would they be okay at having him as their teacher? All year round, too? 

Despite his worries, some of them seemed excited to have him as their teacher, and he was still looking forward to this school year. Because he didn’t want to make the new year start incredibly boring – he didn’t want to be _that_ teacher – he put them into their seats (keeping it both to their wants but also to their needs) and started to teach, making sure every so often that they paid attention.

It was going well, he thought, and as they went to their lunch break he heard them discussing some of the class subjects that he'd just taught, and what they liked about them (etc etc) as they left, him making sure that all of them were out before leaving himself to go with the rest of the teachers to eat also . They were discussing their current classes and if they thought they would have any trouble makers and such; it wasn't the case with the majority of the classes, and he was able to discuss easily with them when they involved him the conversation. (Honestly it probably helped that he had trained there last year and didn't exactly have to break the ice, all over again, and even last year he had help because the teacher he was working with there had introduced him.) 

When he got back after lunch, their next lesson was able to start five minutes everybody was settled in. 

Once he was back home that night he started relaying his day and about his favourite or most endearing students to Kei while attempting to not distract him from the cooking that he was in the middle of, that also happened to smell incredibly delicious despite it being the rather simple dish of Tonkatsu, but Tadashi couldn't find it in him to stop talking about almost every single detail of his first day as a "proper teacher" until about halfway through the meal. It was so like Kei to just sit there and take in everything that he was saying and not interrupt until he had taken a large gulp of air .

Over the years Tadashi had gotten out of the habit of apologizing about that, as often as it happened, especially since they'd began living together a few years ago. When he'd finished, he asked Kei how his day was and got a usual report. He was still in the process of getting his Masters but he was enjoying it since he got to teach other people about dinosaurs at the museum as well as do his entire dissertation on them. Granted that he couldn't _always_ be working with the team and analysing everything they receive because he's got to work on specific things for his dissertation as well as give certain talks, but he didn't mind so much. They were both happy in what they were doing, and always went about their business after dinner, for the majority of the rest of the night, until they get into bed at roughly the same time (Tadashi being slightly later usually due to his habit to take a shower right before he went to bed, giving him slightly longer in the morning to lay in bed). 

Tonight was no different either because of how Kei took his dish to the sink, through the door and into the kitchen, so that he could wash his dish before going to work in their (admittedly small) office to read research papers and work more on his own paper; while at the same time Tadashi finished not five minutes later to repeat the same action before settling down on the couch to mark his students homework that they had to hand in for their end of year homework. It wasn't too difficult, really, and they were still young, but he knew that none of them copied wording exactly from textbooks or (in some cases) the internet, it was just that Tadashi can't sit in an office and at a desk strictly to mark work when he was going to be doing it for the next three hours or so, at least - no offence to Kei or anything. 

The homework that had been set wasn't particularly long, there was just several pieces and a lot of it, meaning that Tadashi wasn't finished until ten at night - just around four and a half hours of marking, and he only had half of one more student's to mark, which would be easy enough to do once he got to school first thing in the morning, before any students even began to arrive. 

Before he went to take his usual shower he walked into the office and draped himself over the back of Kei's uncomfortable looking chair, and Kei ignored him despite seeing him until he placed a kiss to his temple and sighed dramatically, making himself obviously known as if he already wasn't. " _I_ am going to go take a shower and then head to bed, okay? Don't take too much longer, if you can help it." Tadashi said to him, leaning away from his ear so that he didn't disturb Kei so much. Kei didn't stop typing as he took a second to reply. 

"Sure, I am almost done for tonight anyway, so it shouldn't be too long." Tadashi hummed in acknowledgement before kissing his cheek and walking out, not wanting to disturb him any more. He prepared his clothes for bed (a fresh pair of boxers and a t-shirt) before getting a shower, taking his time to relieve the tension from his shoulders and back as the water warmed him and then massaging the shampoo and conditioner into his hair, making sure it would be silky soft in the morning. His nightly ritual consisted of him applying several products to his skin, as well as a couple to his hair, before getting a drink of tea to calm him while reading for half an hour and then brushing his teeth to finish it off, not turning on any of the large lights as to keep his brain quiet and sleepy. Usually it is at this point that Kei is coming into the room and getting changed, climbing into bed moments after Tadashi. 

They curl up together, even though they know that Tadashi moves so much in his sleep that they will not be in the same position when they wake up, whoever may be first to do so. It's routine. 

Over the next few months Tadashi falls into his new school routine. He wakes up at five in the morning, gets his breakfast and prepares Kei's while he showers, before getting a large mug of coffee to kick start his day before getting dressed at approximately five twenty-five, the same time as Kei, where they share a few kisses too, before Tadashi gets his shoes and jacket on, makes sure he has everything he needs for that day at school. It's at that point he gives Kei another kiss before he rushes out the door to catch his bus and hopes that it's on time enough that he doesn't have to run for his train. Once he gets to school he does any _very last minute_ marking while having a new cup of coffee before the kids begin to arrive. Then he spends the day teaching his class, honestly he loves it and it couldn't (really) get much better. After school he helps the volleyball clubs, as well as some lunch times. He's the assistant coach for both teams, the younger students (grades 1-3) and the elder, if they can really be called that at this stage in their lives, (grades 4-6) and honestly he loves it. Sometimes when he gets back Kei isn't there, but he doesn't mind and becomes mostly used to the different times that he comes home every day, although it is nice when he's already home, early, and is in the middle of preparing dinner for Tadashi; especially when he comes home later than expected and is extremely tired from a long day or knows that he has a lot of marking ahead of him.

In volleyball, a lot of the kids have so much passion they don't know what to do with all of the energy they get, reminding him of Hinata and Bokuto if he's being truthful, and he loves to help them with their receives and spikes - as they need the most work. Since all of the children are young, they don't fully understand the game or what the positions entail, (although can they really be expected to?) Tadashi enjoys helping them to learn the different positions and explaining what each one does. Of course, not all of the children really want to be there, but they still put the effort into it. 

Even though he isn't supposed to, as well, he has a favourite student. He's called Nakano Masaru, with black hair and green eyes as well as lots of freckles peppering his nose and cheeks especially, and he always stays behind a little later than everybody else to help clean up, but also because his mom (as Tadashi learned one day, waiting with him later than usual) usually works slightly later than his school day, even when he goes to different clubs every night, and because of where they live he can't go home by himself, and she has nobody else that can pick him up. The first time it happened she had apologized profusely while bowing multiple times (despite being older than him) and explained that she would always be up to an hour late to pick him up. Tadashi, on the other hand, explained that he didn't mind staying behind to watch him after everybody else had gone and that he can always help him with his school work or volleyball - anything - while she came to pick him up. 

Tadashi became very fond of him over the firs term, and the months spent watching him, and took to bringing him snacks for after school because of how in the first week of watching him he became very hungry and never remembered to bring extra food and always ate everything during the day, but Tadashi never minded and was happy to do so in fact, at first getting things before school and then on the weekend when he went shopping with Kei (who at first raised an eyebrow but now doesn't question it). There were several things that he learned in the time he spent with Masaru: he was allergic to orchids, despite being his favourite flower (to look at, at least), his favourite food was Kare Raisu, his favourite dessert was Ice Cream Dorayaki but he wasn't that fond of anything else sweet, and that he absolutely despised mackerel. His favourite ghibli movie is Grave of the Fireflies (which Tadashi wasn't expecting, to be frank, even with knowing what he's like) and that he doesn't really listen to music that often so he doesn't know what he likes in that department, but tends to enjoy whatever is on the radio. Not only that but his favourite pass time is to read about ancient traditions of, not only Japan, but also other countries and see the similarities between them and Japan. Although he admits that he does get regularly confused between Roman and Greek gods because _"they're all virtually the same and there's no way to tell them apart!"_

After the summer they begin the same routine, and Tadashi really enjoys it, especially since Masaru refers to him as "Tada-nii" after school, something which Tadashi feels honoured by. In volleyball he found that he really wants to be a libero, despite being one of the taller students, although also one of the youngest on the team. His skill level has improved massively over the few months Tadashi has being watching over him, and he came back from summer with even more skill in his receives, saying that he had nothing much to do after he completed all of his homework and re-watching his favourite movies and even re-reading his favourite books, since his mom was working from home most of the time. On the first day back he came in earlier than usual (if that was actually possible, at the time he usually arrives, with his mom needing to rush off to work) and immediately came to knock on the door to ask for Tadashi, just so that he could show him all of the work he did to improve his knowledge in his interests. Tadashi was incredibly impressed with his effort, but did often wonder if he was maybe pushing himself too far, at too early an age, but didn't want to interfere with that if he was happy, because he was happy to keep doing it, and so he supposed that was what mattered the most. 

One night, however, in late November, Masaru's mother was running late - later than usual, and extremely at this rate. Usually Masaru was there for another hour after his normal after school activities, an hour and a quarter at the latest, because Nakano-san didn't want to keep him longer than necessary and never wanted to waste his time, no matter how many times he denies that he's wasting it since he enjoys helping Masaru and actually ends up learning about things he didn't know but enjoyed talking about with Masaru, especially with how passionate he became about a lot of things. 

But when it was running close to almost two and a half hours later than volleyball practice usually ran, he began to get worried. At first, an hour ago, he had believed that maybe the trains or buses are just running later than usual, especially with how the weather is being at this moment. But then another half hour passed and Masaru was beginning to ask questions and wonder when his mother was going to get there to pick him up. Tadashi tried his best to distract Masaru by getting him to talk about some of the new stories he found. Nothing can distract him forever though, and when his phone rings Masaru's attention immediately snaps to it, watching intently as Tadashi walks a few steps away to listen to what the person on the other end has to say. 

"Yamaguchi-sensei?" A voice, curious but stern, asks on the other end of the call. 

"Yes?" he answers, checking the caller ID to see that it says Nakano-san, but knowing that it isn't her voice and he doesn't know how to react. 

"My name is Kimura Sachiko and I'm a nurse at Niigatashimin Hospital and, while I'm not completely understanding of your relationship with Nakano-san, she would not stop trying to speak, repeating your name over again worriedly, even while on the medical drugs, and vaguely gave me permission to use her phone while she went into the operating room." Tadashi couldn't help but let out a small gasp. "As far as I am aware, you have her child under your care, and while she went into the operating room there is, honestly, very little chance that the operation could do her much good due to the head injuries she has suffered. If you wouldn't mind, it would be possible for you to come and see her once she is out of the operating room - at which point we will have a better idea of whether she will pull through or how long she has left, and it would be in her child's best interest to see her, if he wished it, before she did possibly..." she trailed off and Tadashi knew what she meant. "In either case I'm sure her child would like to see her, and I can have the arrangements made so that you can both come through immediately." 

"O-of course, I will be there as soon as possible, with her son." Tadashi says as calmly as he is able, as to not cause Masaru any anxiety, which would ultimately make the situation worse. 

"Very well, I will be waiting for your arrival, the operation is fairly simple, and so should be completed within the next hour and a half or just coming up to two hours, is that is okay with you?" 

"Yes, I will be there right away. Thank you for calling me." 

"You are welcome, I will await your arrival. I will also alert the reception to your arrival in the case I am unavailable to come and collect you." she finishes the sentence and ends the call after another second, in case Tadashi had anything else he wished to ask or say, but he didn't. 

"Masaru-chan, we have to go somewhere, and I will explain to you on the way, however I need you to pack your things away quickly and put your coat and scarf on, your boots would also be best." To speed it along, Tadashi helps him with his bag, and zipping his coat and making it easier for his boots to be put on as he did everything and as soon as he was able, he leads him outside and down the street - where it is easier for him to hail a cab. Usually he wouldn't spend so much on a taxi to somewhere it is able to get the train to, but most of the evening rush is over and he wants to get there as quick as possible so that he can explain to Masaru what is going on and why they're going to the hospital so late in the evening and why his mother hasn't picked him up. Naturally, Masaru is beginning to suspect, Tadashi can tell, because of his intelligence and sharp, quick-thinking mind, but he doesn't want to do it in the taxi and in a rush, preferring the idea to explain in detail once they get to the hospital and are in the waiting room. 

As the nurse, Kimura-san, had told him on the phone, while she wasn't there, he was expected and so somebody else told him where to go and gave him directions. He was beginning to get jittery, both knew this, and it wouldn't surprise him if the others in the room knew too. So he sits Masaru in the chair beside him and faces him, but he can tell already that he knows why he is here, why his mother hadn't picked him up, and suspects the news that Tadashi is going to say. 

"Masaru, I need you to be brave, okay? Can you do that for me?" Masaru nods, and Tadashi feels himself welling up with tears just at his clear show of repositioning himself to put on a brave face. "You are smart, of course, and so already know why we're here, don't you?" Another nod. "Well...your mother may not- she may not make it out of the operation that she is currently in. Do you know what that means?" Masaru shakes his head a little. "Well, you know all of the stories you read about, and everything you learn about our ancestors?" Tadashi can see tears well up and his bottom lip quiver as he nods again, "Well, she would be going to join them. Of course, she may not, but the nurse said that the chance is very small, meaning that there is more chance of her joini-" Masaru lets a sob out as he goes to cover his mouth quickly, trying his hardest to keep his brave face and not succeeding as well as before, understandably, tears beginning to pour from his eyes. Tadashi drops to his knees in front of the chair and wraps his arms around the younger, beginning to shush him the best he can, stroking his hair as he does his best. A few tears slip out of Tadashi's eyes as well, but he wipes them away quickly when Masaru buries himself in Tadashi's shoulder, muffling more sobs that come from him. "Come on...come on." Tadashi murmurs after five minutes of being crouched, instead moving so that Masaru is sat on his lap while he sits in the chair, their bags in the one beside them. 

While being held, Masaru falls asleep after some time, aided by Tadashi stroking his hair as a mean to calm him down, and while he sits there, the nurse, Kimura-san she formally introduces herself as, comes to find him to explain what happened. 

"As far as we're aware, from the police report filed, she was crossing the road when a car came swerving out of nowhere and hit her while the light was still on red. Of course, they were the one breaking the law and so the police are investigating it, however there was only her that was injured as others had still yet to begin crossing and so rang both the police and the hospital. At this moment the majority of internal injuries have been closed up, but the injuries sustained to her brain and skull, primarily, are too severe and the chances of her pulling through are less than seventeen percent, and while that isn't as low as expected, unfortunately we're not expecting a miracle as the longer the operation goes on her oxygen levels in the blood keep dropping and so there is most likely a vessel going to her skull that was damaged and unable to be found in the short timing they had. The head surgeon in this has decided to do as much is possible but, ultimately, she doesn't have that long left. As soon as she is acceptable to be seen I will come, again, and collect you." Tadashi nods, trying to take it all in as she walks away. 

In his arms, Masaru begins to squirm, but not seeming to wake up so Tadashi adjusts his position slightly, so he is more comfortable, but remains where he is. He himself almost falls asleep as he's waiting, but as it gets later, he receives a call from Kei and answers, trying to speak as lowly as possible. Halfway through him quietly explaining the situation to Kei, until Masaru wakes in his arms and blinks at him sleepily, before remembering the situation he is in and where he is and promptly beginning to cry again; Tadashi says a quick goodbye to Kei with the promise he will finish explaining as soon as he gets home, before hanging up so that he can comfort Masaru again. It begins to come close to ten when she, finally, comes back, with the news that they can see her now but they will have to take her off life support within the hour. Tadashi tries to grab as many of their things as he can while carrying Masaru at the same time, but Kimura helps him as she shows him to the room. She's unconscious, and has lots of wires coming out of her which make her look less human than ever. 

Whenever he saw her, no matter how tired she looked, she always looked happy also. Her skin was always flushed with pride as Masaru recounts his stories of school, how well he did in class, or if he got marks back from tests they had done the previous week, and her eyes sparkled with love whenever she saw him, the instant they landed on him. It makes Tadashi feel hollow inside to see her like this - pale, with bags under her closed eyes so dark he didn't think it was possible for her, her arms unmoving and looking as though there was no blood running through them, her hair looked lank and without it's usual volume and texture from the winds outside as she'd rushed about. 

In his arms Masaru so clearly wanted to go to his mother, and after a short debate he set him down on the edge of his bed and watched as he cried over his mother's body, clinging to the hospital gown that adorned her body in one hand and, in the other, the rough bedsheets that looked as though they were irritating his skin as he rubbed his hand back and forth in frustration and upset. It hurt to see Masaru like this, he didn't deserve it - but then, who did? And Tadashi didn't know what to do. It wasn't as though he could take the pain away, or make it as though it never happened, as much as he'd like to.

Kimura-san comes back in after some time, an unknown amount, although it can't have been too long, and with her is a police officer. Tadashi takes Masaru from his mother's bed and sits him on his knee, trying to calm him down once more as he struggles to come to concept with the fact that is his mother laying there, attached to multiple machines as a machine keeps a track of her beating heart and controls the breaths she takes. The police officer speaks in a low voice to Tadashi, and explains to him that his mother was the only relative that he has other than grandparents who are much too elderly to take care of him now, even if he were a little older, and that he was going to take him to the orphanage across town. 

He couldn't let that happen, was the first thought that came into Tadashi's head, and stated it to the police officer who just raised an eyebrow. 

"I can, I can take him and look after him. He already knows me and is comfortable with me, I have a stable job teaching at the school he attends, so getting him there wouldn't be a problem, and it means I have a stable enough income to provide for him, as well as my partner who contributes also, I have a spare room which, at the moment, is a guest room but it can easily be made his after a few customisations and I would be happy to take him." Tadashi says, sort of in a rush, but Tadashi wants this, he wants to look after him - not just because he feels he owes Masaru, but because he _wants_ it, so badly. The police officer sighs. Tadashi knows that it is a long shot. 

"You understand that there are laws in place, about this kind of thing. With foster care, and being approved for adoption, and the legalities, if any, about his mother's passing." Tadashi nods vehemently. 

"I understand, I fully understand. Is there no way that I can have a member come over tomorrow, after I bring him home from school, and we begin to sort it then?" Tadashi is pleading, his eyes begging, hoping for him to understand what it would mean to him. Of course, it would be springing a lot on Kei, especially as they have not technically discussed children in the future at all, never mind at this minute, but Tadashi is praying to anybody who will listen that Kei understands how much he needs and wants this. 

"Let me just make a phone call." The officer sighs once more and steps out of the hospital room, leaving Tadashi and Masaru in silence. 

"Tada-nii?" he whsipers

"Yeah?" 

"Do you mean that? That you would want me to come and stay with you and Kei?" 

"Of course I would, why wouldn't I? Are you trying to tell me that you would misbehave for both of us? That isn't a very nice thing you know." Tadashi begins to tease lightly in the hope of lightening the mood, and it works as he gets a small giggle from the boy. 

"No," he giggles some more, "I just wondered is all. I'll behave super good for both of you, even more if I get to stay forever." The officer walks back into the room. 

"You are extremely lucky," he announces to Tadashi. "They say that they can do routine background checks on both you and your partner, once you give us your full names, and that you can have the first visit in two days - as that is when they're next free. Until then he can stay with you both and see where it goes from there." The smile that lights up both of their faces were blinding individually, but put together immeasurable. 

"Th-thank you so much!" Tadashi exclaims excitedly. 

"Yes, well, I must go now, but write down your information quickly on here and then they'll be in contact with you." It was a simple form, he had to put down both of his and Kei's names, dates of births, their address, work places and contact details; all of which he knew by heart and so it was filled out within seven minutes even though it was messy (however still readable). 

Tadashi then took a moment to calm down, and saw Masaru looking gravely at his mother's body once more. The beats the monitor was displaying were getting slower and it was truly only a matter of time. "Is there anything that you, maybe, want to say to your mother before- before we leave?" Tadashi asked, knowing that he had recently taken an interest in ancient death rituals and such. Masaru nodded and slid off Tadashi's lap to stand beside his mother. To begin with, he thanked her for everything she had ever done for him and then told her how he would miss her, then began a prayer which Tadashi soaked in and, in his mind, repeated the words as a blessing to her, wishing her the best. 

After that they had to leave, mainly because Tadashi didn't want Masaru to see his mother's heart beat fade to nothing more, but they were both tired as it was after eleven now and neither had eaten anything but snacks a lot earlier, and Tadashi sent a long text to Kei once they were inside another cab, explaining the situation briefly but asking if they could discuss it once he was back, Kei agreed, of course, as this wasn't just nothing. 

Kei greeted them at the door, tea in one hand for Tadashi and hot chocolate in the other Masaru, who was sleepy but drunk it anyway, claiming it to be the best that he had ever tasted, before Tadashi got him a large t-shirt to wear and the smallest pair of shorts they could, which were much too large for him and so they cut them at the back of the elastic to pull it tighter so they didn't fall as he slept. (Unknowing that it would happen anyway.) 

Tadashi immediately began apologizing, once Masaru was in bed and almost immediately asleep, to Kei for putting him in an uncomfortable and unthought out (on Kei's side) position and that he would be okay if Kei didn't want it and it was understandable if he wanted to leave him and do something else with his life but this s something that Tadashi wanted desperately, even if the opportunity had only just arisen - it was something that he wanted eventually anyway.

Kei calmed him down from speaking in such a rush and asked Tadashi to explain everything that had happened after he received the call, and so he did. First he put Masaru's uniform into the wash as it was grubby from the day's travels, more than usual. It took him a while, and he stumbled slightly every so often in what he was saying, but he did it eventually, by which point it was one thirty and they had so much more to discuss, and right now Tadashi didn't care how tired he was - they were having this discussion now so that they are on the same page. 

"Tadashi, I know you wanted kids at some point, it's also why you became a teacher, and I know you didn't think this would be happening now but it is if you want it. Because I don't mind and we can make it work, we have enough money coming through so I think it is possible." Kei tells him, gently and calmly to help soothe his nerves about it. 

"I know, but I assumed that you'd want to adopt a baby, somebody we can raise from birth and things like that." Tadashi says quietly, almost not wanting to raise his voice enough to make the accusation. 

"I mean, it's what I expected, naturally, but Tadashi I don't care how old he is, and he's already a good kid as it is, and you've bonded well with him so far and I really don't want to see you taken away. You're special to him and he's special to you." Kei adjusts his glasses, and Tadashi can see that he's made up his mind on this. "We're going to do this." Kei says it almost sternly, but Tadashi knows it just means nothing is changing on that decision. 

They make it to bed around two thirty in the morning, after putting the uniform into their dryer (something he has never being more thankful for than this moment), and Tadashi finds himself awake at four thirty, unprompted yet drinking as much coffee as physically able, but remembers quickly that he will need to get Masaru showered and dressed as well as given breakfast and so prepares everything before getting him up fifteen minutes later; there's no complaining at the freshly warm clothes out of the dryer either. 

When a woman comes to see them, two days later, as expected, they were just setting dinner out and she was sorry she interrupted them, but didn't stop from taking Tadashi from room to room to evaluate and decide, after checking their (squeaky clean) backgrounds before announcing, very happily, that she would put the paperwork through straight away for him to be legally fostered and then, in six months, adopted, but would come and see them every two months - just to make sure everything is still as it is.

And she tells them that soon after the adoption, they're going to be seen by a lawyer, as Nakano-san had being very forward thinking and always saving up, as well as having possessions that could be passed onto Masaru once he turns eighteen, but until then remain in the hands of his legal guardians.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!!! ^_^ I hope you enjoyed it, if I got anything wrong with the Japanese school system, hospital talk or geography then please please please tell me because I looked into it as much as I could but /still/ ended up kinda confused, but whatever just tell me, and also tell me if you liked it because I would really like to know, or if I can make it better at all. Okay, yeah, I'm gonna stop rambling.


End file.
